FAITHS OPPOSE CONTRACEPTION POLICY

Evangelical Christians, Lutherans and Jews stood with Catholics in Mission Valley on Wednesday, the eve of the Fortnight for Freedom to protest a federal requirement that religious institutions provide free contraceptive services.

The gathering attracted an overflow crowd of more than 300 people to Mission San Diego de Alcalá. It paired Catholic coadjutor Bishop Cirilo Flores and Jim Garlow, senior pastor of the Skyline megachurch in La Mesa, for an evening of prayer and song in opposition of the regulation, which is part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

“It’s not a Catholic problem, it’s not a Lutheran problem, it’s not a Jewish problem. It’s an American problem. This government intrusion runs the religious gamut,” Flores said. “Our religious freedom is not a favor from the government but a gift from the Lord.”

The event also highlighted Fortnight for Freedom, a nationwide campaign of reflection, prayer and outreach coordinated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to promote religious liberty.

Other recent concerns include federal or state government efforts to define what is a religious school, to require that religious nonprofit groups providing services to migrants teach contraceptive services, and to ban charities from giving assistance to undocumented immigrants.

The 14-day effort includes special Masses, public processions, fasting, spiritual readings and encouragement for participants to call and send letters to their congressional representatives.

“When we saw the recent attacks upon Catholics, a statement that echoed among many of us was, ‘We are all Catholics now,’ ” Garlow said. “There is a warning we all sense. We have seen an evaporation of religious liberties in this nation beyond what I thought I would ever see in my lifetime.”

Listening to him were people in the sanctuary and those standing outside of its entrances. Other speakers were David Rivera, founder of Nativity Prep Academy in San Diego, and auto dealer Bob Hoehn.

Central to the debate is the belief among Catholic, evangelical and some other conservative religious leaders that contraceptive services — birth control, abortion and sterilization — inhibit or destroy life, and that government should not force behavior that they deem to be immoral.

The Obama administration has said all workers should have access to family planning and insists that goal does not undermine religious autonomy. In response to the outcry following its January announcement of the rule, the president and the Department of Health and Human Services offered a compromise: It now requires insurers, not religious employers, to offer the free services.

But critics have continued to press their case for full cancellation of the regulation. In March, more than 40 Catholic organizations filed federal lawsuits seeking to kill the mandate.

In recent months, Catholic parishes nationwide have asked worshippers — during Mass, in church bulletins, at festivals — to voice their opposition to the contraception rule.

Supporters have submitted letters on behalf of the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, which is being considered in Congress. The bill would allow health plans to prohibit certain types of coverage based on an employer’s religious beliefs.

As it stands, most employers must comply with the contraceptive-services mandate by August. Religious organizations — including hospitals, universities and nonprofit groups — have an additional year to put the policy in place. (Churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship are exempt.)

The genesis of Wednesday’s gathering was a coming together of religious groups in favor of Proposition 8, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and a March rally to defend religious freedom, said Mary Moran, a volunteer with the San Diego Roman Catholic Diocese.

“It was just a natural fit for everyone to come together again in defense of religious liberty,” said Moran, who began organizing the event at Mission San Diego de Alcalá event by contacting Garlow and diocesan leaders.

“Other faiths don’t feel as persecuted by the (federal) mandate as the Catholics do, but they are coming to stand together with Catholics over our religious freedom because they know that at any time something like this could affect them,” she added.

On Wednesday, Michael Rolan of San Diego attended the service with his goddaughter and other family members.

“Our Catholic faith does not change,” he said. “If they say they are going to force us to provide contraceptives, then they will force churches to do other things like gay marriage. We have to stand up now.”

For Dran Reese, who attends Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, the gathering was about solidarity.

“We are all one when it comes to the loss of our religious liberties,” she said.